How Obama Could Seize Pennsylvania (The Clintons and Their Sordid Colombia Advocacy)

[Omaha Steve]

I was going to post this in the Labor Forum. I decided to put it here.

http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff04112008.html

By NIKOLAS KOZLOFF

With the Pennsylvania primary fast approaching on April 22, Barack Obama will have the opportunity to end the race for the Democratic nomination once and for all. If he wins by only a slim margin in the state, the "punditocracy" will declare him the presumptive choice of the party and the pressure will build on Hillary Clinton to withdraw. Obama should do well in Philadelphia amongst black voters and will probably pick up a decent percentage of the white affluent vote in the city's suburbs.

In order to clinch the victory, however, Obama will have to make inroads amongst blue collar workers in the more industrial, western section of the state. In Ohio, Obama lost that constituency to Clinton and he's desperate to cut into her lead amongst this critical voting bloc. But with less than two weeks to go, how can he turn things around?

In one word: Colombia.

The Scandal Breaks

Recently, Clinton handed Obama a golden opportunity to sew up the nomination when her chief strategist, Mark Penn, was caught up in a scandal involving the pending free trade deal with Colombia. Bush has been pushing hard for the agreement, which would allow for duty free commerce with the United States. Many Democrats and most unions oppose the initiative because of Colombia's appalling labor record.



Penn's ties to Team Clinton go back some time: the PR man was originally admitted to Bill's circle by consultant Dick Morris in an effort to shore up the 1996 presidential campaign. Penn headed up a global public relations firm called Burson-Marsteller; the company has offered public relations help to such unsavory entities as Blackwater, the security contractor accused of killing Iraqi civilians, and Countrywide, a major lender of risky subprime mortgages.
Penn was employed by the Colombian government to help win passage of the trade agreement in Congress. Penn's ties to the Colombian government were revealed when the Wall Street Journal reported that the PR man held a private meeting with the Colombian ambassador.

News of Penn's ties to the Colombian government proved acutely embarrassing to Clinton, who has gone on record as opposing the agreement. Surely fearing that she might lose out amongst the blue collar constituency in western Pennsylvania, Clinton promptly demoted Penn---though he remains on the campaign staff as a pollster and adviser.

FULL story at link.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Bill Clinton had strong ties to Columbia?

Former President Bill Clinton has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars speaking on behalf of a Colombia-based group pushing the trade pact, and representatives of that organization tell The Huffington Post that the former president shared their sentiment.

In June 2005, Clinton was paid $800,000 by the Colombia-based Gold Service International to give four speeches throughout Latin America. The organization is, ostensibly, a development group tasked with bringing investment to the country and educating world leaders about the Colombia's business opportunities.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/08/bill-clintons-ties-to-col_n_95651.html

Obama should 'make hay while the sunshines'

[Scurrilous]

2. K & R

:thumbsup:

[wanpete]

3. agree...this isn't going negative...this is shining light of the truth and the utter

hypocrisy of the Clntons. I think it's time to bring his A game.